


Echoes

by MiniNephthys



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-27 09:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5043148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Papyrus comforts Frisk over some bad dreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Echoes

Sometimes Frisk has bad dreams.

They know they shouldn’t complain too much about this. Everyone has bad dreams once in a while. People dream about falling, or coming to school without their homework done, or bad people hurting their loved ones. That’s normal.

It’s just that in Frisk’s dreams, they’re the bad person.

Frisk knows enough of monsters to know that white powder coating their hands means nothing good. Even if they didn’t, they see enough in their dreams: cutting down monster after monster, sometimes after toying with them to get them to lower their guard.

The worst parts of those dreams are with monsters Frisk recognizes. People Frisk spends their days with as friends, turning to dust at the end of a toy knife. Toriel. Undyne. Mettaton. Sans. Asgore.

The worst is Papyrus. Not because they love their other friends any less than Papyrus, but because in those dreams Papyrus never fights back. He opens his arms to them, telling them how much he believes in their ability to be a good person even as his body starts to disintegrate.

They’re only dreams. If they happened once or twice then Frisk wouldn’t mind them so much. Instead they see themself killing their friends over and over, with barely any variance each time. More like a memory they’ve blocked out.

That thought is what terrifies them most.

A nightmare wakes Frisk up in the early morning, when it’s still dark. This time it was Papyrus they dreamed about. They shudder, and slip out of their bed and head to the living room. If they’re very quiet, they won’t disturb anyone else, but-

“Human, you’re awake earlier than usual.” Papyrus’ voice is unusually low as he greets them from the couch. Even he’s been taught how not to wake up people who don’t sleep as deeply as Sans does. “Are you looking to start your day bright and early?”

Frisk freezes, then slowly approaches the couch, where they sit a small distance away from Papyrus. “...Bad dream.”

“Oh. Well, never fear.” Papyrus tugs on Frisk’s shoulder, pulling them closer to him. “I, the great Papyrus, will gladly chase away all concerns that may plague your sleep. What is it that is bothering you?”

They think about his skull lying in the snow and ask, “What if I hurt you?”

“That’s easy. I would forgive you, because we’re friends!” Papyrus raises his voice a little there before remembering that he needs to stay quiet at this hour. “So you don’t have anything to worry about.”

“What if I hurt you a lot?” Frisk asks as they lean their head against him.

“Same answer. But more so.” Papyrus strokes their hair with one bony hand. “I don’t think you would ever hurt me in the first place, so there’s no point in asking.”

“What if I already have?”

Papyrus considers this for a moment. “I’m fine now, aren’t I? There’s no way my good friend could have hurt me. That’s ridiculous, and your bad dreams are ridiculous. When I have dreams like that, I try to laugh at them, like this. Nyeh heh heh!”

“Nyeh heh heh,” Frisk repeats.

“Louder! With more feeling!”

“Nyeh heh heh!” says Frisk, finally beginning to smile.

Papyrus grins. “Even louder!”

“Nyeh heh heh!!”

They wake up the rest of the house, but Frisk doesn’t have any bad dreams for a while after that. It’s a fair trade.


End file.
